Menlo hoists to the CCS Division I trophy after winning the Division II title Saturday in San Jose. (Darren Sabedra/staff)

SAN JOSE — The Menlo baseball players gathered on the field and hoisted a trophy after they beat Carmel 9-4 for the Central Coast Section Division II championship Saturday.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t their trophy.

Officials scrambled to avoid a trophy-less presentation at Municipal Stadium after a student from Carmel, it turns out, took the Division II trophy from a table filled with the day’s hardware that sat just beyond the dugout on the first-base side at the home of the Class A San Jose Giants.

“You know, you play the game, you don’t play for the trophy,” Menlo coach Ryan Cavan said after meeting with his team. “You play for your teammates. That’s what I told them before the game today. You play for the guy on your left and the guy on your right. That’s what they did today, and they got it done.”

In order for the traditional postgame ceremony to include a winner’s trophy, Menlo players raised the Division I plaque during the presentation.

But they had to give it back before leaving the field.

The Division I final between Leland and Leigh and the Open Division title game between St. Francis and San Benito were to follow.

Late Saturday, a source close to the CCS said the trophy was taken by a Carmel student — not a baseball player — and ended up at the Carmel athletic director’s office. It will be returned to Menlo.

On the field Saturday, Chandler Yu gave Menlo five innings on the mound, as he did in a semifinal victory Tuesday over Capuchino. The junior also won a game earlier in the playoffs. He finished the season 11-1.

“He’s the Madison Bumgarner of Menlo School,” Cavan said. “Madison Bumgarner won three games in the World Series. Chandler Yu won three games in the playoffs. He’s our guy. He’s our ace.”

Yu found out Friday night that he would make the start in the finale.

Before he threw a pitch, his teammates had given him a 3-0 lead. It was 5-0 after two innings.

“I knew that with our bats coming alive in the first inning — we were swinging it well all week — I just knew that I could settle down, get my pitches over and not really nibble around the plate because I had a comfortable lead to work with,” Yu said. “I knew because we have so many good hitters and seniors on this team, they’re just going to keep on adding runs, and you could see that throughout the scoreboard.”

The one element Yu and others on the field had to overcome was the heat for the 1 p.m. game.

“It wasn’t the coldest day,” Yu said. “But everyone wanted to win and as soon as you get to this time of the year, nothing can really bother you. You just have to fight as hard as you can and do whatever it takes to get the win.”

RJ Babiera had two hits, scored three runs and stole three bases for Menlo.

It was a perfect day for the Knights — well, almost. They came and conquered but left without the trophy.

For more on high school sports, see the Varsity Extra blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/highschools. Follow Darren Sabedra on Twitter at twitter.com/DarrenSabedra.